I just had to share it with you all, especially since January is Train Your Dog Month!

We’ll be hosting a seminar with Ken Ramirez in Seattle in 2013. Keep your eyes open and check our Events Page frequently, or subscribe to our seminar newsletter. Here’s the quote (the bold part is my emphasis):

“My message would be simple: training is not a luxury, but a key component to good animal care. Everyone who has a pet should understand that basic fact. Training is a way to enhance the quality of life for our pets. It is far more than just teaching a dog to do a cute trick. Training is about teaching a dog (or any animal) how to live in our world safely.”

This is so true. I had a conversation with some friends last night and one of them said, “my goal is to pick a dog that doesn’t need training, like our last two.” Newsflash: all dogs need training, some more ‘officially’ than others. Everything we do with a dog teaches them the rules of our household, so whether you think you are training or not, you are! Having a consistent plan just makes things simpler, less confusing, and more fun for human and dog (if you’re using rewards).

For example, with training, you can simply say, “leave it” if your dog is checking out something you’d rather he leave alone, instead of raising your voice and yelling something random. Isn’t that better for everyone?

And don’t even get me started on the importance of puppy and teen dog socialization… Skipping socialization in puppyhood is neglect — a lazy version of dog abuse.

Interested in training your dog or puppy? Check out our list of dog training classes, which now includes Agility and Control Unleashed classes by Ali Johnson, CPDT-KA, plus Troubled Teens, Growly Dog 1 & 2, Basic Manners, Puppy Kindergarten and more.

This game is a fun way to train your dog to hold still when you approach. The idea is to teach them to anticipate a fun run in the direction you’re coming from, versus away from you. First teach your dog a stand-stay with positive reinforcement (see our awesome friend Emily Larlham on the kikopup channel on YouTube and/or attend an Ahimsa class). After this, you’ll want to rehearse in a variety of ways – approach with leash/collar, different speeds, etc. other ideas for helping this problem: teaching a strong recall, targeting your empty hand or the leash with their nose for treats/toys, etc. When in doubt, use more treats!

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICCJDoHij1c

If you already have an account, you’ll need to create a new one. I’m really sorry for that, but none of the info on referral sales was coming through before.

Each month, you get 8% of the sales via a check (details on our site). If you give a link to the BATting 1000 DVD, for example, that makes you $10. Click here to learn more.

Jennifer Brown of Phuket, Thailand, on Soi Dogs will be speaking on Wednesday Nov 9 from 7-8 PM.

This talk should be of key interest to those who travel and spend their tourist dollars in Thailand and surrounding areas, as well as everyone interested in improving animal welfare globally.

If you have been considering becoming more involved with such issues as stopping the dog meat trade and other forms of cruelty, increasing awareness and support for spay and neuter programs, and advocating for rabies vaccination instead of mass culling by poison bait this is your chance to come and hear first-hand what it’s like in these area’s of the world and learn how you can be part of the solution.

We will have videos and photos (from both Thailand and Bali) during the talk. Also, shirts and other Soi Dog goodies available for a modest donation.

Jennifer has a BSc with Honors in Veterinary and Animal Science with a concentration in molecular biology. Her current research interests focus on bioethics and ethology. She is finishing her Masters in Bioethics at Monash University in Melbourne, AU as well as taking cognitive science/psychology coursework at Harvard University. She currently resides in Phuket, Thailand. While in Thailand she conducts research and volunteers at the not-for-profit Soi Dog Foundation.  For more information on her, please visit http://www.soidog.org/.

Wednesday, November 9th, 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM

Legacy Canine Behavior & Training, 252 Kitchen Dick Road, Sequim, WA 98382

FREE!

In addition to the presentation, there will be a free drawing for those present for two baskets of dog related gifts!

1. Halloween is here and the rest of the holiday season is coming soon

We will be closed only in the evening of Halloween. Morning classes will take place, but we close at 2:30 pm on October 31. See below for Halloween tips. We will also be closed Weds-Sunday on the week of Thanksgiving and December 23 – January 1.

If you are registered for a class, you got an email with dates that you have reserved. Notice that these are not always consecutive! Your registration may have a skip date because we are closed for a holiday or because that hour of the class was full when you registered. Please note the actual dates you reserved with your class.

You can log in at http://ahimsadogtraining.com to see or CHANGE your reserved dates, using your order ID (which is in the email and on your punchcard). Changing dates allows you the flexibility to celebrate your own holidays or go on vacation.

2. Best of Western Washington Contest Results

We won second place this year! The first place winner is also a positive trainer (yay!) and does private lessons outside of Seattle. So that still makes us the top facility in Seattle, and the top group classes in Western WA! Thanks so much to those of you who have voted this year and in the past. We’ve been in the top 3 for the last four years, including a win last year. Thanks in advance for next year’s votes.

3. Puppy Jr. High starting this week

Most of our classes are ongoing (so you can start any time), but “series” classes have 6 set meeting dates, so if you miss the start date, you miss out! If you are currently enrolled in an ongoing class, contact us and we will give you a pro-rated discount to switch into one of the series classes.

Puppy Junior High is for dogs 5-9 months who have finished Puppy Kindergarten. It has socialization and rock-solid training. Small breed and all sizes classes start this week!

We also have Core Skills and Troubled Teens classes starting in the next few weeks. The next Growly Dog 2 class is already on the schedule, so don’t miss out!

Note: series class students can still drop into our ongoing classes and the workshops for dog owners, like Come Here, Jumping Up, Bravery Boost, etc. for free (space-available basis). Info on all of our classes, including Nose Work, Growly Dog, and Backyard Sports and Games is at http://doggiezen.com/class

4. Association of Pet Dog Trainers

Mireille and I (Grisha) attended the national conference for positive dog training, APDT, in San Diego. We both came back with great new ideas. Mireille attended a variety of talks and assisted my presentation on BAT. Both of my seminars on BAT had about 500 people in them!! The books at the seminar just about sold out, and I recently heard that they did sell out at the APDT conference in Australia.

5. Featured store items (We ship anywhere in the world, so think about us for the holidays)

• BATting 1000: 2 Day BAT seminar DVD on Aggression, Frustration, and Fear. It has video clips of what to do with a frustrated greeter. This replaces the 1-day DVD and has more info on everything. A great add-on to the book!!
• Premier sale continues. This is your last chance to get these Premier items without supporting Petsafe (long story, involves one of my favorite brands being taken over by a company that makes shock collars). We’re selling the rest of the stock we have at near-wholesale prices. Search http://doggiezen.com/store for CLOSEOUT.
• DuraDoggie Beba Toy is a squeaker and food puzzle all in one! And 20% of the company’s profits go to charities, based on the colors you choose.
• Look for 3 new items soon: Prairie Dog antlers, car seatbelts for dogs, and hammock-style seatcovers for your back seat.

6. Did you know?

Your dog may enjoy all the fun and visitors of Halloween, but many dogs don’t like the constant intrusion. If you can’t just shut out your lights to keep the visitors out, give your dog a series of stuffed food puzzles throughout the night, preferably in a room away from the door.

If you have a puppy or happy-go-lucky dog, this is a great night to practice polite greeting at the door, if you have one person to answer the door and one person to treat the dog. If you live alone, have a friend come to your house to help out! This will pay off big time in your puppy’s future. If that’s not possible, use a baby gate or a tether to keep the puppy from dashing out the door, and remember to reward good behavior with dog treats, not candy.

You may even be able to get the children to give your puppy a treat, but make sure that your puppy is allowed to get away if she’s nervous, and that she doesn’t get any candy!

Candy is a big danger on Halloween, so keep yours up on a high surface to keep your dog out of trouble. Click for more tips from the ASPCA.

p.s. A few more reminders from our trainers:

* Any dogs enrolled in Puppy Kindergarten or attending puppy play times should not be going to dog parks, day care, or boarding kennels.

* Wear warm clothing, as many of our training classes spend some time outside.

p.p.s. Visit our Facebook page for news and info, or to just “Like” us. http://www.facebook.com/doggiezen

This article also has an interesting clip of an iguana being threatened by an iPhone. It’s interesting in the sense of reading iguana body language, but it’s awful in the sense that people do mean things to animals just to have a laugh…

DEBBIE IS COMING TO SEATTLE on November 5, 2011 to give a seminar for Ahimsa. It is called Living With and Training a Fearful Dog. Join us and please help spread the word.

Here’s how.

1. Buy the MOBI file using the BAT book link.
2. Download the file.
3. Make sure you have the free Kindle app on your phone (App Store).
4. Plug your phone into your computer using the USB cable.
5. Open up iTunes.
6. Click on your phone under Devices.
7. Click on the Apps tab.
8. Use the scroll bar on the right-hand side to scroll down to File Sharing (go all the way down).
9. Click on Kindle.
10. Click on “Add” at the bottom of the “Kindle Documents” box.
11. Find your file.
12. Sync your phone.
13. Tada! The BAT book should now be in the books listed in the Kindle App on your phone.

Just a quick reminder that Ahimsa is closed for Labor Day weekend, through Monday night, 9/5 (store, playtime, & classes). We do have our biannual summer camp near the Mount Baker National Forest this weekend, and you can join us! Read on for more news.

1. Summer Camp

There are only 2 spots left for the Labor day Outdoor Manners camp. If you don’t like camping, you can stay in a nearby hotel. Have fun and frolick with your dog on 7 beautiful, lush, forested acres near White Horse Mountain and the Mount Baker National Forest. Two acres are fully fenced, so you can work on your dogs’ off leash skills in a beautiful, yet enclosed environment. We will be training and doing other activities, but you will also have plenty of time for you just to relax and enjoy the forest. Info is at http://doggiezen.com/camp.

2. Classes – registration ends soon

In the last newsletter, I mentioned that we have traditional “series” classes with set start and end dates, along with our main classes, which are ongoing with rolling admission. Don’t miss out on these upcoming classes! Let us know if you want to switch into one of them from an ongoing class.

• Troubled Teens (5-12 months) – Starts 9/6 and 9/24.
• Puppy Junior High (5-9 months) – 9/10 (small dogs, < 30 pounds) and 9/18. (The 9/7 class is full)
• Core Skills – Starts 9/15 (this is for people who want more structure than the regular Basic Manners).

Note: series class students can still drop into our ongoing classes and the workshops, like Come Here, Jumping Up, Bravery Boost, etc. for free (space-available basis).

Another upcoming event: “Living With and Training a Fearful Dog” is a one-day seminar with author Debbie Jacobs from the East Coast. There are only two spots left with dogs! http://doggiezen.com/workshop

3. Featured products at our dog training supply store:

In last month’s newsletter, I told you about some items in our store that would be available “soon.” Well, soon is here!

• My book is being shipped to us from the printer tomorrow!!!! “Behavior Adjustment Training: BAT for Aggression, Frustration and Fear in Dogs.” Here’s a quick review from Patricia McConnell: “Every trainer should have the methods described in BAT in their tool box. There’d be a lot more happy dogs and happy owners if they did!”
• Baskerville Ultra – Treat-friendly basket muzzle. It’s squishy rubber and easy to feed treats through.
• Clik-R-Duo. Makes two different noises, with two buttons.

4. Puppy Block Party was a success!

We had a socialization event to celebrate the launch of my new puppy DVD, “Give Your Puppy a Choice: Modern Socialization and Training.”  The dogs all did great and I hope to post videos to the blog at some point soon. Special thanks to local pet stores Petapaluza, Zak & Zoe, Mud Bay, and All the Best Pet Care for donations to the goody bags.

5. Did you know?

“You’re Not Crazy, You’re Mourning: Grief from the Loss of Your Dog” is the latest article in our blog, Here’s the intro:

To love a dog is to truly know the meaning of unconditional love. If you were lucky enough to share your life with a dog, especially a ‘soulmate dog’ who has passed or is nearing the end of life, then you also have the flipside of such a strong relationship: grief. Every experience of grief is unique, so you can’t really be prepared for the loss of your dog. Some of the things that you might do or think while grieving may make you think you are going crazy. This article will help you understand some of the common feelings, behaviors, and thoughts that may come with the loss of your dog. It is my hope that while an article can’t get rid of the sadness or fill the empty hole in your heart, it may encourage you to find a way to grow from this experience and see it as yet another gift from your dog.

p.s. Find us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/doggiezen – If you check in on Facebook at Ahimsa, we will donate $1 to local charities!

Is my grief normal? How long will this last?

You may be surprised to have so much grief from the loss of your dog, or to be experiencing grief before your dog is even gone. This grief is completely normal, and may be misunderstood by the people around you. They may accuse you of overreacting. It is, after all, ‘just a dog.’ You may even tell yourself that and try to avoid working through your grief or want to ‘get rid of it’ as soon as possible. Your grief will probably not be gone in a few weeks or even months. Because of the special relationship we have with our dogs, grief of a beloved dog can often be more intense than the death of a family member, and coming to terms with the change will take as long as it takes. The good news is that you do not have to ‘get over’ the loss of your dog; you do not have to forget your dog. Mourning and processing your grief will allow you to change the relationship with the tangible dog of fur and drool to a relationship with a dog within your own heart and mind. Your dog will always be there, as will your love.

Other losses cause grief, too

There are many losses that we grieve, whether we are aware of it or not. If you do not consciously process that grief, it can remain dormant until the next loss, and over time, you build up a big pile of losses as time goes on, and sometimes a loss is so strong that you are forced to grieve not only that loss, but others as well. So instead of just the one loss, you are processing a “multiple loss” of the current loss plus whatever else you have lost in the past. Some of life’s experiences that can cause grief are:

• Death of family friends, pets
• Loss/change of a home, moving away from parents, etc.
• Loss/change of a job or job description
• Birth of a child / acquisition of a dog (loss of the lifestyle that came before)
• Hysterectomy (loss of ability to give birth)
• Divorce (loss of partner, lifestyle, and can involve the loss of kids or pets)
• Kids moving out (loss of current family lifestyle)
• Break-ups with friends or friends moving away

Seven Principles of Grief

The idea that every loss is a multiple loss is one of the Seven Principles of Grief by J. Shep Jeffries (2007). If you want a giant overview of the grief process, I recommend you read that book. Here is his full list of grief principles:

• Principle One: You cannot fix or cure grief.
• Principle Two: There is no one right way to grieve.
• Principle Three: There is no universal timetable for the grief journey.
• Principle Four: Every loss is a multiple loss.
• Principle Five: Change=Loss=Grief.
• Principle Six: We grieve old loss while grieving new loss.
• Principle Seven: We grieve when a loss has occurred or is threatened.

I’m losing my mind. Is that normal, too?

Yup. Many people (especially ones without dogs) don’t understand that dog lovers experience real, strong grief when they lose their dogs. They may give their condolences upon first hearing of your loss, but may not realize that you continue to be in pain as time goes on, and wonder why you are still crying, irritable, or otherwise ‘not yourself’ as time passes. You may wonder, yourself, whether you are going crazy. Here are some cognitive symptoms of grief, from J. Shep Jeffrey’s book, “Helping Grieving People” (2007, Kindle Locations 1462-1480):

• Responding sluggishly to questions
• Difficulty concentrating
• Loss of interest in usual activities—work, sports, games, collecting, social clubs,
• Loss of pleasure—avoids sex, entertainment, food, and social events
• General numbness—shutdown of reactions to social stimuli, no pain, and no joy
• Intrusive thoughts about the loss—constant barrage of thoughts
• Confusion and disorientation—difficulty with time sequences, location
• A sense of futility about life—”What’s the use?” and “Why bother?”
• A sense of helplessness—”Can’t do anything to help myself”
• Uncertainty about identity—”Who am I now?” and “How do I present myself to others now?”
• So-called “crazy” thoughts—hearing or seeing the lost loved one; feeling like they can communicate with them
• Mental fatigue—too tired to figure things out, mind just won’t work

5 Tips for Self-Care

These are things you can do to help even if your loss was a long time ago. You will always love your dog. But if the loss was recent or tears still overcome you whenever you think of your dog, the grief may not be fully processed, and your health and relationships can suffer because of it. There are many other things to do, but here are five important ways you can take care of yourself.

1. Feel your feelings without shame. You grieve the loss of your dog because you are human and you truly love your dog. Your feelings are real and need to be honored.
2. Express your feelings and talk about the experience of your dog’s life and death or loss. Talk to friends, post on Facebook, blog about it. It is normal for other people to assume you can move on quickly, because it wasn’t their loss. Don’t count on people to bring up your loss. They may think that avoiding it will make you feel better. Denial may help, in the short term, but it will come back to haunt you. If your own personal network is tired of hearing about your loss, then go to a support group and/or connect with people online. You don’t have to spend any time with friends who belittle your loss, compare your loss to theirs, or change the conversation to be about them instead of you and your dog. A lot of us try to be stoic, but we’re not doing anyone any favors if we don’t process our grief, because it can come out in other unpleasant ways (back pain, crankiness, overemotionality, underemotionality, lack of ability to form good relationships, you name it).
3. Honor your dog’s life with some sort of ‘shrine.’ Put together a slideshow or video of your dog’s life. Make a collage for your wall with photos and/or your dog’s collar. Do a memorial ceremony where friends and family who knew your dog talk about his life and how it affected them. Create a web site in honor of your dog.
4. Give yourself permission to not grieve all the time. It’s okay to be happy even after the loss of your dog. You can set time aside to not grieve, or set time aside to grieve, with some time limit.
5. Exercise, eat, and get out of bed. Dogs can provide companionship, exercise, and even give us a reason to get up in the morning. Without your dog, you may have to push yourself to do these things, but it will become easier over time. Even light exercise, like walking around the block, can have a great effect on your mood. Walking where you normally went with your dog may bring up a lot of memories with your dog. Allow yourself to feel the grief of that loss but when you are ready, also to remember the joy you shared with your dog.

4 Healing Tasks for the Grieving Person or Family

As I’ve said before, everyone’s grief is different, but the Jeffries book that I mentioned before lists five things that you might do as you mourn your dog’s death or loss. I wanted to share this with you because you may be more familiar with the outdated idea that there are stages. Instead, we simply encounter grief in waves and eventually (if we’re persistent) work our way through these five tasks in our own personal order.

1. Sharing Acknowledgment of Death or Loss. Really, truly understand the finality of the loss. This is where having a shrine and memorial ceremony come in. Work on open communication about the death in your family, including children, in an age-appropriate way. Doing something together as a family to celebrate the life of the dog and mourn the loss can help heal, as can involving friends.
2. Sharing the Pain and Grief. Talk about the loss and keep talking. Express emotions. Feel. Don’t be surprised if your partner expresses his or her pain differently. That’s normal and does not mean s/he is a monster. Do not hold in what you are feeling in order to keep someone else from feeling bad. It’s good for both of you to talk about your guilt, anger, shame, pain, etc.
3. Reorganizing the Family System. This is the logistical part of loss, as in “now I have only one dog to feed, not two.” Or “Do I bury my dog or cremate her or both?”  “How do I deal with the change of relationship with my remaining animals?” “Now that the dog-reactive dog is no longer with us, should we start going on more walks with the other one?”
4. Creating New Directions, Relationships, and Goals. This is not a fast process, not a goal to reach as quickly as possible, but be aware that this is something that is healthy to do. This task might involve getting a new dog or other pet, perhaps the same breed or perhaps a different one. It might mean deciding to volunteer at a shelter to get your dog fix in some other way, or doing the traveling that you couldn’t do with your dog. If your dog was reactive or had other behavior problems, you might feel guilty about seeing his or her passing as an opportunity, but it’s also a realistic truth. This final task is about moving on and exploring new options for your life now that the situation has changed, while still holding your dog in a special place in your heart. Task four also involves exploring the possibility of your loss as a profound self-development experience. More on that next.

Your dog’s final gift to you

Life with a dog can teach you a lot: how to live in the moment, how to enjoy the smell of fresh-mown grass or the first snow of the year to its fullest, even how to forgive. The death of your dog can also teach you to live in the moment, give you insight into what it means to be alive, and give you an opportunity for growth. This chance to learn is a parting gift from your dog. Joining a pet loss support group and reading books on grief (see below) will help you put your grief in perspective and give you a way to continue processing your grief. It’s very important to express your feelings during this time. “The outward expression of grief, or mourning, is how you externalize those thoughts and feelings and ultimately, integrate them into your life” (Wolfelt, 2004, Kindle Locations 47-48). It may also be helpful to work with a therapist. While the grieving process is not a problem to be fixed, it is a time of tumultuous emotionality, from relief and intense guilt to anger and sadness. The loss of your dog may be an opportunity to understand the grief process and to work on the unprocessed grief of other losses in your life.

Recommended Reading

• Kowalski, G. (2006). Goodbye, friend: Healing wisdom for anyone who has ever lost a pet. Novato, CA: New World Library.
• Wolfelt, A. D.  (2004). When your pet dies: A guide to mourning, remembering and healing. Bozeman, MT: Companion Press

Pet Loss Support Groups near Seattle

• Bellevue: The Humane Society for Seattle/King County, 13212 SE Eastgate Way, Bellevue, WA 98005-4408, (425) 649-7566.
• Bellingham: Bellingham Pet Loss Support Group, St. Luke’s Community Health Educations Center, 3333 Squalicum Parkway, Bellingham, WA 98225.
• Seattle: Pet Loss Support Group Seattle Animal Shelter – 2061 15th Avenue West, Seattle WA, 98119, 206-386-PETS.
• Tacoma: Humane Society for Tacoma and Pierce County, 2608 Center St, Tacoma, WA 98409, (253) 383-2733.
• More resources on pet loss in Washington, including therapists (also click through if you’re in other states)

Click here to go to Sophia Yin’s download page. She posted on August 7, so it probably goes through August 13th, 2011.

What: Puppy greeting party at Ahimsa Dog Training in Seattle. Participants will dress in costumes and bring their friends, so that puppies will have plenty of people to practice polite, brave greetings with. Firemen, mail carriers, pizza deliverers, veterinarians, etc.! Puppies will walk around the block and encounter these various people. They’ll get treats for polite greetings and have a lot of fun! We’re not blocking off the street, so it’s more of an Around the Block Party, but you get the point…

Why: Dogs can be fearful and aggressive to people that look different in some way from what they consider ‘normal,’ so we socialize them to get used to a lot of different kinds of people. This event is designed to help socialize puppies, practice not jumping up, promote awareness of the importance of continued socialization, and to celebrate the launch of Grisha Stewart’s new puppy DVD, “Give Your Puppy  a Choice: Modern Socialization and Training.” (Grisha is the owner of Ahimsa.) The Puppy Choice DVD will be available for half-off during this puppy socialization event ($11.99 versus the regular $23.95).

Who: 30 Puppies with complete vaccinations (all except for rabies) as this is an outdoor event. Up through 10 months old. Note that our regular puppy kindergarten classes are for much younger puppies, who do not need their complete shots in our clean facility.

Where: Ahimsa Dog Training, 902 NW 49th Street, Seattle

How: Register online at https://ahimsadogtraining.com/class/puppyblockparty.php This is a FREE EVENT.

If you are a trainer in another city and want to host your own block party with discounted DVDs, please contact me!! (use the contact form under About Us on the top of this page.)

If you are reading this by email, you may need to go to the Ahimsa blog online to see the video.

This is for our brick and mortar store at 902 NW 49th Street in Seattle. Our online dog training supply store is open all the time and now ships worldwide. We have Freedom harnesses, select training books and DVDs, Spray Shield to break up dog fights, and more. All of our treats are natural or organic, and made in the USA.

Direct link to the video: http://youtu.be/OhCgzYYKn7w

You can use the links below to share on Facebook, or just copy and paste the link to this page.

p.s. If you’d like to join the drill team, let us know.

p.p.s. If you can’t see a video above, here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j03lJa7v7EU

I RESCUED A HUMAN TODAY

Her eyes met mine as she walked down the corridor peering apprehensively into the kennels. I felt her need instantly and knew I had to help her. I wagged my tail, not too exuberantly, so she wouldn’t be afraid.

As she stopped at my kennel I blocked her view from a little accident I had in the back of my cage. I didn’t want her to know that I hadn’t been walked today. Sometimes the shelter keepers get too busy and I didn’t want her to think poorly of them.

As she read my kennel card I hoped that she wouldn’t feel sad about my past.

I only have the future to look forward to and want to make a difference in someone’s life.

She got down on her knees and made little kissy sounds at me.

I shoved my shoulder and side of my head up against the bars to comfort her.
Gentle fingertips caressed my neck; she was desperate for companionship.

A tear fell down her cheek and I raised my paw to assure her that all would be well.

Soon my kennel door opened and her smile was so bright that I instantly jumped into her arms. I would promise to keep her safe. I would promise to always be by her side. I would promise to do everything I could to see that radiant smile and sparkle in her eyes.

I was so fortunate that she came down my corridor. So many more are out there who haven’t walked the corridors.
So many more to be saved. At least I could save one.

I rescued a human today.

(please let me know if you know who wrote this)

How to pick a rescue dog (with a list of Seattle-area shelters: http://ahimsadogtraining.com/handouts/choosing-a-shelter-dog-hsus.html

How not to pick a rescue dog

Great book, “Do Over Dogs – Give Your Dog a Second Chance for a First Class Life”

Here’s the deal: in the wild, the “dominant” pair of wolves is actually just the mother and father, who happen to be older and wiser. There is not constant jockeying for position to take down the parents. So just be older and wiser than your dog, and you’re well on your way to being a real leader. It seems silly to struggle to prove we are faster or stronger than the dog when it’s really much easier to just show that we are smarter. If you worried that you’re not smarter than your dog, and have to resort to pinning the dog down, you have a bigger problem than dog training.

If you didn’t know this before, it’s not your fault. There is a lot of misinformation out there and the human brain makes it hard to pay attention to contradictory information. But now that you know, it’s time to think about relationships with dogs in a whole new light, and stop trying to do training based the outdated notion of dominance. Dominance is outdated, but you don’t have to be.

Look into reinforcement-based training if you’ve been holding out. If you want to know how to rehabilitate dogs with aggression issues without dominance, check out Behavior Adjustment Training (BAT), for example or any of a number of different methods. I know it may be hard to change, to admit that you might have been doing something in the name of training that was unnecessary. But think of the dogs you will come into contact with in the future and how those dogs will benefit from your new knowledge! You have the power now.

Please click below to see the video!

Check out this video from PBS featuring ethologist Ádám Miklósi, Ph.D. (Ethologists are THE go-to people for the question of “what do animals do.” Think Jean Goodall, but with dogs.

(If you get this by RSS feed, you’ll need to go to the blog to see the video.

Here are two video clips on how to teach your dog to drop a toy or other object. I recommend using the first technique to train your dog properly. Use the second technique whenever your puppy steals a toy and you need to get it back, until your ‘drop’ cue training is complete. Please also read my quick blog post on an easy way to get your dog to drop a toy during fetch.

1. I should have the first book on Behavior Adjustment Training, or BAT, published in mid-2011. BAT is a technique for rehabilitating and preventing dog reactivity issues, including frustration, fear, and aggression. The picture you see here is a little teaser of some of the illustrations. The book will be available at http://ahimsadogtraining.com/bat – see that page for my upcoming BAT seminars around the world.

2. We have two seminars coming up – one on Creative Dog Training by Emily Larlham (from YouTube’s KikoPup channel) and another by Lori Stevens on TTouch. Visit our Special Events page for information or to sign up. There are only a few spots left for Emily’s seminar in mid-May.

3. We have lots of great classes going on in Seattle this summer, from nose work to backyard sports to basic manners to crate training for puppies. Most of our classes are ongoing, so you can start right away. Check out the Ahimsa Dog Training home page for more info.